DWeb Policy Action Plan: DWeb Goes to Washington by Chris Lewis, Catherine Stihler, Danny O'Brien, Ross Schulman, and Nick Garcia
Presented by Chris Lewis, Catherine Stihler, Danny O'Brien, Ross Schulman, and Nick Garcia
We know from past experience with other new technologies that government policy can shape their destinies dramatically. DWeb will be no different, and yet policymakers may not have good understandings of DWeb’s motivations, technologies, or practices — or if they do, may be skeptical. As a community, we need to help shape policy, or we run the risk of having it shaped for us by interests that don’t align with our goals and values. Panelists will describe the policy landscapes that DWeb faces at national levels — where we must act — and introduce the policy areas, strategies, and activities we might consider for maximum impact.
Campers interested in participating to build a more specific plan of policy action can join the companion workshop sessions that will follow this panel over the course of the Camp.
Catherine Stihler, OBE FRSE is the CEO of Creative Commons. She has been an international champion for openness as a legislator and practitioner for over 20 years. She was elected as a Member of the European Parliament for Scotland in 1999, a post which she held until 2019. While serving as an MEP, Catherine was also elected to serve as the 52nd Rector of the University of St Andrews between 2014 and 2017, and was the first elected Senior Lay Member, chairing the university governing body (University Court) from 2019 to 2022 In 2018 she was awarded an honorary doctorate in recognition of her service to the university and in 2019 the Queen recognised Catherine’s public service by awarding her an OBE. Catherine spent 18 months transforming the Open Knowledge Foundation, before joining Creative Commons as CEO in August 2020. In 2022, Catherine was elected to the national academy of Scotland, the Royal Society of Edinburgh.
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Danny O'Brien has been an activist for online free speech and privacy for over 20 years. In his home country of the UK, he fought against repressive anti-encryption law, and helped make the UK Parliament more transparent with FaxYourMP. He was EFF's activist from 2005 to 2007, and its international outreach coordinator from 2007-2009. After three years working to protect at-risk online reporters with the Committee to Protect Journalists, he returned to EFF in 2013 to supervise EFF's global strategy. He is also the co-founder of the Open Rights Group, Britain's own digital civil liberties organization.
In a previous life, Danny wrote and performed the only one-man show about Usenet to have a successful run in London's West End. His geek gossip zine, Need To Know, won a special commendation for services to newsgathering at the first Interactive BAFTAs. He also coined the term "life hack."
It has been over a decade since he was first commissioned to write a book on combating procrastination.
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Ross Schulman is a co-director of the Cybersecurity Initiative and senior policy counsel at New America’s Open Technology Institute where he focuses on cybersecurity, encryption, surveillance, and Internet governance. Prior to joining OTI, Ross worked for Google in Mountain View, California. Ross has also worked at the Computer and Communications Industry Association, the Center for Democracy and Technology, and on Capitol Hill for Senators Wyden and Feingold. Ross earned his juris doctor magna cum laude from Washington College of Law at American University and his bachelor’s degree in computer science from Brandeis University.
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Christopher Lewis is President and CEO at Public Knowledge. Prior to being elevated to President and CEO, Chris served for as PK’s Vice President from 2012 to 2019 where he led the organization’s day-to-day advocacy and political strategy on Capitol Hill and at government agencies. During that time he also served as a local elected official, serving two terms on the Alexandria City Public School Board. Chris serves on the Board of Directors for the Institute for Local Self Reliance and represents Public Knowledge on the Board of the Broadband Internet Technical Advisory Group (BITAG).
Videos from the summit:
Nicholas P. Garcia is a Policy Counsel at Public Knowledge, focusing on net neutrality and broadband access and affordability. Before joining Public Knowledge, Nick served as an Assistant District Attorney in the Investigations Division of the Bronx County District Attorney’s Office, where he investigated and prosecuted cybercrime, fraud, grand larceny, and organized crime. He previously worked as a Legal Intern at Public Knowledge and as a Student Attorney for the Communications & Technology Law Clinic at Georgetown University Law Center’s Institute for Public Representation.